The Blood of a Stranger: Setting; Subject Matter and Themes

The Setting of ‘The Blood of the Stranger’:

The play is set in the village of Mando, old Sierra Leone during the colonial era. It explores the tradition and history of the people prior to the coming of colonialism represented in the person of White Head. The reception accorded to the whiteman by the villagers, shows African hospitality, gullibility and complicity in the colonisation of the continent. It takes the collaboration of the greedy and dishonest privileged personalities like Maligu and Soko for colonialism to stand. This is the period the white man came to Africa with religion and started exploiting the black man’s resources.

Subject Matter and Themes in ‘The Blood of a Stranger’

The subject matter is the central idea that runs through the play. The text depicts the strategy used by the Europeans to colonise African countries.  They achieve this aim by deceiving African traditional rulers.

Themes:

There are some issues and ideas embedded in Dele Charley’s ‘The Blood of a Stranger’ which portray the life and culture of Mando society in Sierra Leone during the colonial era when the whites attempted to capitalize on the ignorance of the blacks to exploit their rich natural resources through illegal means.